Why students harmed by addictive social media need more than cellphone bans and surveillance

Hi everyone, it's Vinita, here to tell you about another podcast I think you might like.

Climate change affects everyone, but it doesn't affect everyone equally.

Immigrants often bear a unique burden, but they're also leading the way with impactful solutions.

And there's a new podcast series shining a light on all of it. From flooded basement apartments in New York City to indigenous Mayan farming practices in Nebraska,

home interrupted brings you deeply reported original stories from across the united states

the podcast is produced by feet in two worlds a

news outlet that pairs early career immigrant and racialized journalists with veteran media makers find feet in two worlds home interrupted wherever you listen to podcasts

Even when you think about the cell phone ban, instead of banning it all together, how can we effectively use this tool within the classroom?

It could be a research tool. It could be a pedagogical tool to teach and to do different things.

With the money that is put towards these surveillance measures and these punitive decisions, it really begs the question of whether or not we really want to solve these problems,

Whether we're really concerned about students' well-being or are we just finding ways to maintain a status quo of control that is normalized because we are so used to it.

Recently, five school boards in Ontario got together to sue the major social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

Their lawsuit says that these social media platforms are designed to be addictive and have caused all kinds of problems for the education system.

Their lawsuit says social media causes kids to suffer from mental health issues, and it increases distraction, social withdrawal, and cyberbullying.

It causes damage and disruption to the classroom, which puts all kinds of new burdens on teachers who are already dealing with shrinking budgets and increased class sizes.

The $4.5 billion lawsuit follows over 200 lawsuits by school boards in the United States in the past year

against the same companies making similar claims.

This week, the Ontario government, which has called the Canadian lawsuit a waste of time and money,

announced it was doubling down on its 2019 ban on cell phones in schools as a way to address the problem.

We ban cell phones in the classroom, so I don't know what the kids are using. But I disagree with them.

Let's focus on the core values of education. Let's focus on math and reading and writing.

That's what we need to do, put all the resources into the kids.

And I don't know, what are they spending on lawyer fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this?

So let's focus on the kids. But is a ban the answer to the impact of technology we know is incredibly pervasive, addictive and harmful, not to mention often racist?

Research shows that technologies are not neutral. They're embedded with and actively reinforce structures of racism.

A recent survey of children in grades 7 to 11 found

that nearly half of the participants reported seeing racist or sexist content online, and that youth from marginalized groups were more likely than others to encounter this type of content.

Our guests today are two scholars and former teachers who look at the intersection of race, technology, and education.

They say social media has become part of who we are, and it's not going anywhere.

So instead of trying to ban it, schools should focus on improving digital literacy and critical thinking for both students and their teachers.

Behan Farhadi is assistant professor of educational policy and equity at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

She researches online education and tech policy. And Keisha McPherson is an assistant professor in the School of Professional Communication at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Her research focuses on social justice education, critical race, and cultural studies. Welcome to you both.

Behan, you've been a high school teacher for 15 years. The lawsuit by the school boards accuses these four social media giants of harming students and also making things more challenging for teachers.

Can you tell us what things looked like in your classrooms when it comes to children and technology?

I'm also a parent to two children who are in the Toronto District School Board.